


Just This Once

by IcyDeath



Series: Solangelo One Word Prompt [9]
Category: Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Caretaker Will, Fluff, M/M, Persistent Cold, Romance, Sick Fic, Sick Nico, Sick Nico di Angelo, Steam Cabin/steam room, featuring steam and its benefits, patient boyfriend Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 11:07:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyDeath/pseuds/IcyDeath
Summary: Nico is sick, Will takes care of him.For the prompt word "steamy"





	Just This Once

**Author's Note:**

> I am so upset.
> 
> My fingers feel clumsy, I haven't written in a while. And my head hurts from staring at my sister's laptop.

“Ngh,” Nico grunts. He rubs at his face trying to get rid of the moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes. “Will, stop- what are-” He sounds like a clogged pipe, so he sniffs and clears his throat but the phlegm chokes him and makes him sound disgusting, _ugh_. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this, least of all his _boyfriend_ \- his hot blond, not-sick, _annoying_ , healer, boyfriend who had to drag him out of his disgusting ( _but comfortable)_ cave of misery, better known as the Hades Cabin.

Thankfully, as a professional of the healing arts, Will was kind enough not to look put off by the current state of his snotty, whiny, goth boyfriend. Instead, his face showed only concern and a great deal of exasperation as Nico turned his head to subtly blow his nose on some used tissue paper which he then pocketed.

“Nico,” Will began in an exasperated tone and if Nico was in his right state of mind, he’d be annoyed with Will’s pushiness and shadow-travel the hell out of there... but the stupid cold has stripped down his usual emotional defenses and the only thing he wanted to do was lay down, burrow himself in pillows, and whine at Will to cuddle him _to death_ (or at least until he gets better enough to feel embarrassed about how _needy_ he is when sick). “This is for your own good.”

“Noooo,” Nico shakes his head and then stumbles at how dizzy that makes him. The runny nose made it sound like he was saying _‘nuuuu’_ (and _great_ , let’s just add ‘sounding like a whiny kid’ to the list of things to be embarrassed about when he has regained his sanity from this stupid cold). “I don’t even know where you’re taking me.” And wow, those words sounded better in his head, they come out more like ‘ _Dn’t ebin nu wer yer tikn nee’_.

And of course, Will, head healer of camp who has overseen the recovery of, maybe, hundreds of cold-stricken patients whose speech has been turned into gibberish because of phlegm, managed to decipher his boyfriend’s complaints easily, “I told you, we’re going to the Steam Cabin.” He says patiently as he half carries, half drags the son of Hades into a small cabin a few feet away from the Camp Infirmary. “The Hephaestus kids managed to finish it in time before the flu season, which is good news for us. I mean sure, we have ambrosia and unicorn’s draught for injuries or sickness- but sometimes there are so many sick people that we run out of them! So it’s good to have a back up plan. _And_ nothing beats good old steam. Steam can improve health in so many ways! It improves blood circulation, lowers blood pressure-”

As usual, whenever Will gets too into the medical benefits of things, Nico zones out. His chatter was like a soft lullaby lulling him into a false sense of security with how boring it was. He doesn’t even realize he’s fallen into a light doze until Will nudges him awake in a room full of smoke.

“Wha-” Nico jerks awake and inhales sharply, finding to his joy, that _he can_ _actually breathe in properly now._ “What happ’nd?” He asks, his voice awed but still a little slurred from sleep and sickness.

“The magic of steam.” Came a familiar smug tone.

Nico blinks rapidly as he slowly becomes aware of three things. One, it’s _really hot_ , which is probably why, two, there was steam everywhere. And three, the smug voice came from his blond boyfriend who was currently wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

Nico blushes so suddenly that he feels dizzy and lists to the side.

“Whoa!” Will, being the reliable medic he is, manages to catch the other teen before he fell to the floor in a heap of embarrassment.

“How is this thing supposed to lower blood pressure again?” Nico asks faintly to the relief of Will.

“Because of the steam, your body releases a hormone, called aldosterone, which regulates your blood pressure.” Will lays Nico down gently, brushing his bangs from his forehead, “But mostly we’re here to clear your congestion and encourage deep breathing. But we can’t stay too long or you’ll become dehydrated.”

Nico sniffs, “At least I sound human again.” A pause and then he whispers, “Why are you naked?”

Will blinks and then, unable to help himself, he laughs, “You clearly have your priorities straight. Why? Does it bother you?” He teased.

Nico feels like he achieves a new level of blushing today, as he turns his head to the side. He keeps his mouth pursed, not wanting to be made fun of any further.

Will laughs again, “Sorry, I just- I can’t leave a sick person alone in the steam room. I need to be here to see how much steam you can take before we get you back to bed. And I can’t exactly stay in the steam room fully clothed, I’ll overheat. Also, I’m not naked, I have a towel preserving my modesty and so do you.” He tells Nico, reminding him, he wasn’t the only one not fully clothed in the room.

At those words, Nico has never been more aware and surprised (and _freakin’ embarrassed)_ by the fact that, why yes, aside from Will Solace, _he too was only clad in a towel_.

“Oops,” Will says as Nico tries to become one with the floor again, “I think that’s enough steam for now, let’s get out of here.” He drags Nico upright and towards the changing room section of the cabin.

“Please, just put me out of my misery,” Nico groans as he realizes the blond will have to dress him to  get him out of the Steam cabin or whatever this miserable place was called. “Or at least let me put on my underwear myself. Or better yet, let me shadow travel to my cabin as I am so I can forget about today and not add any more stupid stuff to my list of ‘things I’ll be embarrassed about later’.”

Will rolls his eyes, “Don’t be dramatic. As head medic, I’ve experienced worse patients than you, _and_ as your boyfriend, I’ve seen basically _everything_ of naked you.”

Nico tries to shoot him an annoyed look despite how woozy he feels, “Yes, but you haven’t seen snotty, sweaty, sick naked me yet. And I’d rather keep it that way.”

“You’re not making sense, naked you is still naked you whether sick or not, only with phlegm.” Will says patiently as he efficiently dresses his boyfriend while he was distracted with their conversation. When he finishes, he dresses himself quickly, then, kisses Nico on the forehead before looking straight into hazy eyes. “But I want you to know that I’m doing this not because I’m head medic of the Camp but because I’m worried about you and I don’t trust, _or_ _want_ , anyone else to take care of you. I’m happy that I can at least do this for you and I like that _only I_ get to see this side of you and help you get better.”

Nico blinks slowly trying to process the barrage of words with his overheated mind. All he could come up with was, “So… you _don’t_ think I’m gross when I’m sick?”

The blond smiled at him helplessly, “I think, and you’ll probably punch me later for this when you’re thinking straight again- I think you’re adorable, sick or not. And like I said, I’ve seen worse. Nothing surprises me anymore, and I’ll still love you even if you drool, bleed, or puke all over me. Which, for the record, has already happened to me countless of times, sometimes, even at the same time. So no, you are not gross, you’re my adorably sick boyfriend who has a persistent cold.”

“Okay,” Nico nods even though most of what Will said just flew over his head. Still, he got the gist of it, which is: it was okay if he was gross and that Will did not find him gross and even if he did, he still loves him- or something along those lines- _ugh_ , who cares, he just wants to _sleep_.

“Can we go lie down now?”

Will raises an eyebrow, “We?”

Nico scowls, “If I have to summon an army of undead just to get you to cuddle me until I’m better, _then I will._ ”

Will laughs again, “Nico: King of Aggressive Cuddling.” He shakes his head fondly, “Okay, okay, leave it all to me.” He lifts the slender teen and carries him back to the Hades cabin, which he’d instructed his siblings to air out and clean while they had been in the steam room. He rests his forehead against Nico’s warm one and whispers, “You can rest now, Nico, I’ll look after you.”

Nico knows a good suggestion when he hears one. So he leans against Will ( _just for now_ , while he was sick, Will knew more about taking care of sick people than him anyway) and he sighs in contentment, drifting off.

He’ll let Will take care of him.

Just this once.

**FIN**

**Author's Note:**

> My laptop broke last year, November. No one would lend me a decent laptop to write (my other sister's netbook was super slow, it hanged a lot) until now, so I just haven't written anything for over a year. I wish I had a laptop again. 
> 
> (Also I failed this important, national examinations thing, which, yep, really sucks.)
> 
> If you're not put off by my complaining in the notes, come check out my [tumblr](http://emrysblu.tumblr.com) for more solangelo works!
> 
> (On a different note, I recently set up a donation button on my tumblr, haha. So yeah, this is just a small heads up, in case anyone is interested. If you want to know what it's for, [click here](http://emrysblu.tumblr.com/post/183261090282/more-hi-i-recently-placed-a-donate-button-on) . If you want to donate immediately, [Here’s the donation link if you’re interested. Thanks so much!](https://paypal.me/emrysblu?locale.x=en_US) )
> 
> [(Or this one if that doesn’t work)](https://www.paypal.me/emrysblu)
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading :D


End file.
